Nigerian romance scammer found guilty of defrauding Triangle man
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- A federal jury convicted a Nigerian man of laundering over $120,000 in a romance scam.
- Saheed Owolabi faces up to 40 years in prison.
- His victims included a Triangle area man buying a home in Apex.
A Nigerian romance scammer was found guilty by a federal jury of laundering more than $120,000 from a Triangle area man, officials announced Wednesday.
Saheed Sunday Owolabi, 34, was convicted Oct. 16 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court records show. He was arrested in July 2024, about four months after he arrived in the United States on a spousal visa, according to court documents.
Owolabi was indicted in June 2022, along with another Nigerian man and two American men, court documents show. He and Stephen Ojo, the other Nigerian, posed as women online and convinced men to send and receive money for them, the indictment states.
“Investigators recovered chat messages in which Owolabi admitted he was running a romance scam until he realized he was actually communicating with another fraudster,” a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice states. “That individual mocked Owolabi’s efforts and told him to ‘learn how to do a cleaner job.’”
One of those victims was Derrick Donahue Davis of Concord, according to court documents. Davis fell for Ojo, who was allegedly going by the name “Kyra Carter,” after meeting the fake woman on a dating app in 2018, court documents state.
Davis ultimately played a crucial role in an April 2020 scam where the men sent a Triangle area man identified as “KCN” an email pretending to be KCN’s attorney. KCN was closing on a home in Apex, and the fake email used the COVID-19 pandemic as a ploy to get KCN to wire $120,768.17 to Davis’ bank account to avoid a delayed closing, court documents allege.
Davis then sent the money to several other people, and at least $1,500 made its way back to Owolabi, according to court documents. The victim didn’t realize he’d been scammed until he arrived at the closing appointment. Law enforcement noticed the large transaction and told Davis he was participating in criminal activity, but he allegedly continued to move money for Ojo and Owolabi nonetheless, court documents state.
Davis pleaded guilty in April 2023, and was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, court documents state. Ojo, who lived in Turkey during much of the criminal activity, has yet to be arrested, according to court records.
Owolabi was sentenced to 15 years in prison in March 2026. He will be deported upon his release from prison, according to court documents.
Owolabi is scheduled to be sentenced in January. He faces up to 40 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, according to federal officials.
This story was originally published November 27, 2025 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Nigerian romance scammer found guilty of defrauding Triangle man."
